Gonzaga blanked 3-0 by Portland in season finale Saturday

Having already reached a program-best four wins in the West Coast Conference, the Gonzaga women were hoping to make it five and finish alone in fourth - and potentially tie for third - with a positive result against visiting University of Portland, but the Pilots were up against a wall trying to avoid the worst conference finish in program history. In the end, visitors topped the Zags on Senior Day, 3-0, in a game that was far more evenly played than the score indicated.

MLS and NWSL draft results for the Northwest

Portland's Kendall Johnson was lone player chosen from a NW school in NWSL draft | photo: Gerald Barnhart

No players from the Inland Northwest were selected the past two days in the Major League Soccer or National Women’s Soccer League drafts at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, but there was plenty of action for the Northwest on the other side of the Cascades.

The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers picked up three players, combined, and their NWSL counterparts Reign and Thorns tabbed four players each in the new league’s inaugural college draft.

Gonzaga women nab first-ever point versus Portland in 1-1 draw

Luke (18) and Cameli (2) exchanged late strikes in dramatic contest Thursday | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

Zero for 20. That was the past the ladies of Gonzaga took into Thursday’s contest with the storied University of Portland Pilots. And after Kaila Cameli’s 70th minute strike on a breakaway put the visitors on top in what had been an even game, it looked like the streak would continue. But with eight minutes left, freshman Lauren Luke altered history for the Bulldogs.

INW Collegiate Recap: Close contests for WSU, Gonzaga in PAC-12, WCC

It was a week of close contests in the West Coast Conference. Six of the seven matches were decided by one goal, including three that finished in overtime. Gonzaga came up on the short side of one overtime match, falling at Loyola Marymount, and was on the wrong side of the game decided by two goals, dropping its match in San Diego. Two games into the conference portion of the campaign, only Santa Clara and Portland remain unbeaten.

The women’s side of the WCC was just as competitive over the weekend with all four conference games and a non-conference contest being decided by a goal or less, including the overtime loss Gonzaga suffered at home versus Saint Mary’s. Portland, which has yet to open conference play, fell narrowly to 10th-ranked San Diego State of the MWC.

In the Pac-12, A goal directly off a corner kick was the only thing keeping Washington State from two shutout performances on the weekend at home against the two schools from Arizona. The loss to the Sun Devils keeps the Cougars mid-table with Stanford, UCLA and California leaping out to commanding leads just five games into the conference campaign.

Around the Rankings - September 18

 A number of Inland Northwest teams highlight the national rankings for the various collegiate divisions. Here is a look around at the three main polls/rankings from the NSCAA, Soccer America, D3soccer.com and Top Drawer Soccer, which incorporates its projection of the tournament fields into its ranking.

Cascadia stars as USA Women survive 4-3 OT thriller after trailing three times to Canada

Richland’s Hope Solo made a couple nice stops, but was outshined on the day by her Northwest counterparts who dominated the scoring summary and stole the spotlight in a wild back-and-forth Olympic Semifinal affair that saw the Canadians take the lead three times before going to overtime, where the United States eventually prevailed, 4-3, on a stoppage time header from Seattle Sounders Women striker Alex Morgan.

Seattle Sounders goalkeeper and University of Washington product Hope Solo was one of the focal points heading into the tournament, but despite her lengthy shutout streak coming into the contest most of the eyes were on the star duo Abby Wambach of the United States and Christine Sinclair. Instead, the match ended up being a showdown of University of Portland products as Sinclair and fellow former Pilot Megan Rapinoe exchanged goals, making the match an all-Cascadia affair.

Gonzaga Women announce 2012 schedule

Gonzaga University announced the 2012 schedule for the women’s soccer team, unveiling a slate that will see them play most of the region’s major universities in the preseason and six 2011 NCAA tournament participants in total.

After kicking off the season at home against the Summit League’s University of South Dakota (1-15-3 overall in 2011), the Bulldogs will play face Washington State, Idaho, Boise State, Washington , Seattle, Oregon State and Oregon along with a trip to Tennessee in the middle to play Austin Peay (9-8-1 overall) and Vanderbilt (8-11-0).